Pratt School of Engineering Dean Kristina Johnson completed the school's team of department chairs Monday with the hiring of April Brown as chair of the electrical and computer engineering department. Brown is the fourth chair hired by Pratt in the last two years.
Brown, currently Joseph M. Pettit professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, will join the faculty in July, pending Board of Trustees approval. In addition to teaching expertise, she brings administrative experience to Duke, serving as executive assistant to the president at Georgia Tech and as associate dean for faculty at the school's College of Engineering.
"I could best summarize it by an e-mail I got from an administrator at Georgia Tech: OIt's not bad enough you've clobbered us at Cameron--you've gone and stolen one of our best researchers and faculty leaders,'" Johnson said.
Johnson pointed to Brown's experience with electronic and optoelectronic materials and devices for high-speed communication applications, as well as her administrative background, as reasons for selecting Brown.
"She has good breadth and is very interested and concerned in what she should be doing in order to make the faculty stronger," said John Strohbehn, professor of biomedical engineering and chair of the search committee.
Brown said a letter of interest from the committee piqued her interest in the position. She said the opportunity to work more closely with faculty was key in her decision to leave Georgia Tech, which has one of the most prestigious engineering departments nationally, ranked sixth in undergraduate and fifth in graduate programs by U.S. News and World Report.
"As an associate dean in engineering, I was really much closer to what I'll be doing at Duke--strategic planning, faculty issues and gender-related issues in science and engineering," Brown said. "Where the most reward comes from is really serving faculty members at a department level. I've realized the next appropriate position for me is at the department chair position."
Brown will join a team of department chairs Johnson has handpicked over the past two years: Roni Avissar of civil and environmental engineering came to Duke last July from Rutgers University, Morton Friedman of biomedical engineering came at the same time from Ohio State University and Kenneth Hall of mechanical engineering and materials sciences was promoted from within the University.
With Brown's arrival, key initiatives of the electrical engineering department, including photonics and nanoscience, can go forward with more detailed planning, Johnson said. Brown has explored nanoscale materials for future electronic microsystems and said she would like to expand her research into optoelectronics and photonics.
A $25 million gift last year from Michael and Patty Fitzpatrick spurred planning for a new photonics center as a part of the school's larger $100 million photonics and communications initiative. The center will be housed in the new engineering plaza, scheduled to begin construction this summer.
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